


have yourself a merry little christmas.

by orphan_account



Series: make the yuletide GAY [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Kingdom Hearts Secret Santa 2018, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 13:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17122256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ven deals with having to spend Christmas alone.





	have yourself a merry little christmas.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@moondropbunny on twitter](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40moondropbunny+on+twitter).



“Are you sure you don’t wanna come along?”

Ven smiles fondly, “Yes, Roxas. I’m sure. Say hi to Hayner and the others for me, alright?” He steps forward and adjusts the knit cap on Roxas’s head. “And be careful on the slopes. We don’t want a repeat of last year, got it?”

Roxas rolls his eyes, “Yes, Mom. I’ll be careful.”

A van arrives outside their house, two honks coming from the vehicle.

“Your ride’s here, right on time.”

Roxas allows his older twin to pull him into a tight embrace. “I’ll spam you with pics once we get there,” he says into Ven’s shoulder.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Rox. Be safe. Have fun.” Ven lets go of Roxas and watches as his brother lugs a suitcase with him outside and loads it into the van.

Roxas takes one last look at him and waves. He waves back.

He watches as his brother boards the van, watches as its doors slide shut, watches as it drives away from their house.

Roxas will be gone for two weeks.

It’s… the first time Ven’s going to be spending Christmas alone.

\--

It’s always been him and Roxas, even before the accident that took their parents’ lives from them.

They were joint at the hip, inseparable. Not even the flow of time could separate the brothers from each other. There were almost no secrets between them, and after the accident, they were closer than ever before.

That didn’t stop them from having different friend groups though. (Of course, it was inevitable. They had differing interests, after all. Roxas was a prolific gamer and enjoyed playing sports, whereas Ven was more musically inclined and enjoyed dancing.)

That’s why Ven didn’t want to come along on the trip. He wanted Roxas to have fun with his friends without having to worry about thinking of a topic that Ven could relate to.

Still. He was alone.

That was kind of disappointing.

Aqua was spending time with her family, which she deserves, as she rarely ever gets to see them, with her being an ocean away most of the time and all. Terra went overseas with his father as well.

He could go to Lea’s, but he’s not sure he’s up to deal with his entire boisterous family. Isa was spending his Christmas over at Lea’s too.

Zack went to God-knows-where and no one’s heard from him in weeks. (But he’ll come back, he always does when you least expect it.)

He could go to—

He bites the inside of his cheek.

_“Ugh, I’m gonna be back home for the Christmas week.”_

_“Is that bad?”_

_“Well, no. It’s fun. But also, my brother? Yeah. He’s…”_

_“Too much?”_

_“Gods, yeah. He tells the corniest jokes and intentionally sings off-key to piss people off.”_

_“He sounds like fun.”_

_“Yeah, he’s loads of fun. But you can only handle so much bullshit before you gotta tell him to, like, sit his ass and calm the hell down.”_

_“Hahaha! I think he and I could get along.”_

_A shudder, “Ugh. You totally would.”_

Ven has _his_ number. He could call. He could ask if he could go and stay with them on Christmas day.

But…

This is ridiculous.

\--

He blasts Michael Buble on his Bluetooth speakers, singing along while he makes himself lunch. He watches some soap reruns on TV, and when that doesn’t sate his boredom, he channel surfs until he sees a documentary about aliens that manages to get his attention for an hour and a half. He has the thermostat down low, lower than Roxas would have allowed, and wears an ugly sweater that he received from his twin two years ago. He eats mac and cheese and laughs at the comedy skits on TV. He texts Aqua, who is lamenting the fact that her stepfather is making a fool of himself again, they exchange pleasantries and jokes while he does some of his schoolwork. She excuses herself an hour later, saying something about a light show somewhere in a different city that they were planning to go to.

He exchanges messages with Roxas, who is always so quick to reply. He’s thankful for his brother’s ‘company’, and he enjoys watching the snaps Roxas sends his way: Roxas and Hayner thumb-wrestling, Olette singing to Christmas songs, Pence doing a vocal impersonation of one of their professors. Hayner’s parents also join in the fun, being victims of the dog filter.

He doesn’t feel so alone.

\--

 _‘oh hey, there might be no signal over at the resort, so sorry if messages suddenly stop comin ur way ok???_ 😓 _’_

_‘and here i was thinkin i was gonna show u my cool slick moves’_

_‘yeah that’s fine!’_

_‘also, no cool slick moves when it’s dark out. Remember Last Year.’_

_‘just take care alright?’_

_‘you don’t have to tell me twice, i will!!! hehehe’_

_‘veeeeeen let it goooooo, let it goooooo~_ 😑😑😑😑😑 _’_

_‘also, you take care of urself too, you goober’_

_‘yes Mom._ 🙄 _’_

* * *

 

He’s all alone.

His phone’s beside him, waiting for _anything_ from a brother too far out of range to reach. (It’s been hours since the last message.)

He looks out the window at all the other houses in their neighborhood, with their bright Christmas lights and dancing robot Santas, and feels something ugly crawl up his throat. It tastes like tears and loneliness, and it’s all unfair. It’s almost Christmas, he doesn’t want to be alone, he wants to be with his brother, his friends, his family, he misses his parents. He wants to have plans, too. He wants—

He doesn’t want to be alone, not right now.

He looks at his phone again.

As if waiting for his undivided attention, it lights up and starts ringing.

Ven stares dumbly at it, not yet fully registering that he has a call.

It’s only once the call disconnects that it hits him.

“Shit.”

Only for the ringing to start again.

“Unknown Caller? Who could that be?”

Was it… was it Roxas? Did something happen to him over at the ski resort?

His hands fly to the phone, answering it. Fearing the worst, he mumbles a quick “Hello?” into the speaker.

_“Hey! You’re Ventus, right? Roxas’s twin brother?”_

“Y-yes?”

There’s another voice coming from the other line.

_“Oh god. Roxas gave you his number, of course it’s him.”_

_“Well, you never know, I mean, someone else could have answered it!”_

An exasperated sigh.

“Um, hello?” He asks again.

The voice in the other line gasps, _“I’m so sorry! I mean for running my mouth like that, but also for calling this late at night.”_ Ven looks at the time on his phone. 10 PM. Huh.

“It’s fine, I’m the only one here.”

_“Oh, well. Yeah. See, that’s the thing, uh…”_

His eyes look out the window again, and he watches as one by one, each of his neighbors turns their Christmas lights off for the day. Only for them to be lit up again tomorrow, the pattern repeating until Christmas comes and ends.

_“—f you wanted to stay the week here.”_

Oh, he spaced out.

“I-I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I didn’t quite catch it.”

_“No, it’s fine, I mean. You probably had plans! But also, Roxas sent me a message a few hours ago and I only saw it now and I was wondering if you wanted to stay the week here, at my place.”_

“Um…” He didn’t even know who the caller was.

_“Have you even told him who you are yet?”_

_“Oh! Uh, I’m Sora! A friend of Roxas’s, also if I remember correctly, you know my twin brother, Vanitas?”_

Ah.

Well.

Interesting. Very interesting.

_“Hello?”_

It seems he didn’t have to be the one to make the call to _him_ after all. He breathes a sigh of relief.

“Sure.”

 **_“Really?!”_ ** And wow, ouch, the volume of his voice.

 _“Sorry,”_ Sora seems to have quieted down after being chastised by the other person with him, _“I mean, really? You’ll stay over? Because, like, if you had plans, I don’t want to take you away from them. But also, Roxas was practically demanding I invite you over so you don’t get lonely and miss him, and you know how Roxas is sometimes when he gets angry…”_

“Yes, yes. I know what you mean.”

_“Yeah, and also, Vanitas has been talking so much about you lately, and honestly, you sound like a fun person! I think we might get along pretty well!”_

He has to smile at the enthusiasm from Sora. So unlike his brother.

And of course, leave it to his own brother to always know what to do, even when he wasn’t physically around.

But also, _‘talking about him so much lately’_ ? He tries not to think of the connotations. He doesn’t want to assume things. _‘Probably making fun of me.’_ Yeah, that must be the case.

“Let me go pack my stuff? Text me your address and I’ll drive my way there.”

_“Oh! No need, we’re actually close to your home right now!”_

Well. He focuses on the world outside the windows once more. Snow has begun to fall again, staining the ground with white. _‘Hopefully it doesn’t get stronger.’_

His eyes follow a silver sedan making its way over.

_“Oh, is that you at the window? I see you!”_

“The door’s unlocked, feel free to come inside,” he says, leaving his seat by the windowsill and making his way to his room. “I’m gonna pack my things.” He feels a grin on his face now. He wasn’t going to be alone for Christmas. He wasn’t going to be alone, and he was going to be spending the week over at…!

He can’t quite stop the small rush of heat flooding to his cheeks.

“Sure thing!” Sora ends the call.

He grabs an unused backpack from under his bed, patting it to get some dust off. He opens his closet to raid it for things to wear for an entire week.

He manages to fit in four shirts, a pair of pajama pants, some underwear, two pairs of socks, toiletries, and his phone charger.

He steps out of his room and heads to the living room, and… wow. Sora and Vanitas don’t look anything alike at all.

Well, no. They do. Kinda. The nose shape? The facial structure?

“Hi.” He greets Sora, who is currently looking at the picture frames hanging on the walls.

Sora turns to face him, a grin on his face. Something tells Ven that that grin is ever-present on the brunet. “Hi, Ven! It’s nice to finally meet you!” He offers a hand that Ven shakes firmly.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Sora.”

“Are you all packed?” He eyes the backpack hanging from Ven’s shoulder.

“Yup. All set.”

“Cool! This is looking to be a fun Christmas, I can already tell.” There’s something about Sora’s enthusiasm that’s so contagious, Ven can’t help but feel excited as well.

Or, well, maybe it’s the butterflies. Because, y’know…

Right.

Ven locks the door behind them and places the keys in a small pocket in his backpack. They make their way to the silver sedan, and it’s only then that Ven remembers Sora had a companion with him the entire time he was making his way to Ven’s place.

He didn’t expect it to be a familiar face though.

“Riku?”

Riku, one of his and Aqua’s classmates from Chemistry II a year ago, was sitting behind the wheel.

The silver-haired boy nods at him, “Hey, Ven. Long time no see.”

He cut his hair, now it barely touches his shoulders.

He looks even more handsome, how is that fair?

Sora opens the door and climbs into the back seat, patting the space beside him, “Come on, Ven! You don’t want to miss out on my mom’s fruit salad!”

Fruit salad. His stomach protests.

Right, he skipped dinner because he was too busy sulking. His last meal was the mac and cheese, right? Hell.

“Okay, fruit salad,” He slides into the back seat beside Sora, placing his backpack on the floor by his foot. “I’ve never been to your place before.” He says as Riku starts the car and leaves the driveway.

“Yeah, I know right?! I keep telling Vani to invite you over but he’s like _‘Yeah, sure’_ or _‘My apartment’s closer, why don’t you just come visit when he’s here?’_ but he never tells me when you’re around!”

Yup, sounds like Vanitas alright.

* * *

They make it to Sora’s place in 20 minutes, or something. Ven’s not sure. He must’ve passed out some time during the travel.

Sora’s mother is a ray of sunshine, grinning and telling him to make himself at home, treating him like he was a frequent guest instead of someone visiting for the first time.

“Vanitas should be down here any minute now.” She says.

“More like Vanitas has descended to be among the mortals once more.” says a familiar voice. Ven leans over and…

“Hey, Ven.”

He swallows.

His throat suddenly feels really dry for some reason.

Right. What was he thinking? He was going to be staying over for a _week_.

That meant a week being around… _Vanitas_.

He was both dreading and looking forward to this week. Now if only his heart would stop jackhammering against his chest so he could say something in return.

This was ridiculous.

Why did the guy have to look so grossly attractive in black? No one should look that good wearing all black, it’s like, a crime against fashion or something.

“Hey.”

This was gonna be a long week.

 


End file.
